A Georgia teacher who won a courageous fight against her district’s demand that she alter grades now seeks a seat on the very same school board. Sheri Mimbs was terminated from Cotton Indian Elementary School in 2017 for refusing to pass failing students.
She filed a lawsuit against the Henry County School Board over being ordered to award nothing less than a 60 — even if the student turned in zero work.
Mimbs won a six-figure settlement and is now determined to change the system from within.
Henry County Georgia Teacher fired for not giving students unearned grades plans to run for school boardhttps://t.co/YrdVdkTQpU
— Bob Andrews (@rcandrews) April 17, 2024
The principled teacher recalled an assistant principal in 2017 telling her in writing that she could no longer award a grade lower than a 60 for any assignment.
Even if the student did not hand in anything.
Mimbs of course was shocked. She approached the assistant principal to question the directive only to see her administrator double down on the mandate. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You need to change those grades. Kids can’t have less than a 60.”
The teacher said after she complained about the misguided protocol, her contract was not renewed. Mimbs was well aware of why her services were no longer desired by Henry County schools and took legal action against the system.
The jury agreed with her fair-minded assessment. She was awarded a six-figure settlement for being wronged plus attorneys fees.
Even more critically, the system had to reverse her non-renewal, making her eligible to teach in Henry County again. She told reporters that being separated from the system prevented her from getting a position in other districts.
But Mimbs had other thoughts, and now instead of being an outside agitator or going back to her teaching role, she wants to improve the school system from the top.
She announced, “I’m planning to run for school board. Nobody can make me believe just giving out grades is helping any student.”
Mimbs said the landmark court victory “was like a sign of relief. A weight off my shoulders.”
Such dishonest grading practices are more common that most would believe. Another recent case, this time in Arizona, revealed that high school faculty were pressured into changing the marks of roughly 50 seniors who would not graduate otherwise.
Another whistleblower said that educators are being required to make these changes and are “afraid of not doing it for fear of being termed insubordinate and terminated.”
